Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism

Chapter 569 Cracks in the Alibi

No one knew how these two seemingly unrelated people had met.

With Shirley's involvement, the investigation moved along much more smoothly.

It didn't take long for the cyber police to track down the person who had deleted their account and gone into hiding. When they found him, he was in an internet café, slurping instant noodles while browsing the web-a complete mess.

"According to the investigation, this guy named Horace Middleton is an unemployed drifter. After graduating from high school, he worked at an electronics factory for about six months, but he kept showing up late and leaving early, so they fired him. After that, he started living off his parents, doing nothing all day. His favorite thing was gaming at internet cafés. He even tried to become a gaming streamer, but when he couldn't afford the equipment, he resorted to stealing to get it. He got caught and spent a few days in jail, so now he has a criminal record."

Shirley's assistant, Alexis Swanson, read the report from the police station out loud to her.

Shirley remained calm, flipping through the documents in her hand.

Polly, sitting next to her, asked anxiously, "Did he say who paid him to smear me online?"

Shirley nodded. "Yes. He said someone contacted him online and offered him 500 bucks to post those things. So he used his Facebook account to do it. But when things blew up, he panicked and deleted his account." Hearing this, Polly was stunned.

She was being dragged through the mud online, with everyone labeling her a "thief," and it was all for just 500 bucks?

She leaned back in her chair, feeling utterly defeated.

An employee at the law firm analyzed the situation.

"Horace just copied and pasted what the person told him to say. He doesn't even know who the other person is."

Shirley asked, "Did we track the account that made the payment?"

the papers on the desk. "Yes, it

whole time, suddenly spoke up when she heard

eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you

is Celeste Wren, but we don't know for sure if it's the same

flame of suspicion was now flickering at Zelena's

Zelena was in the middle of a magazine cover

Polly's influence or not, Zelena's photoshoot wasn't going well. They shot for hours, but only a few photos were usable, with a ton of outtakes. Finally, it was over, and Zelena headed to the makeup

anxious, said,

hi trouble

Polly really Tawyer,

investigating." Content We're

swer vernete

onto the table. "So what if she did? What

lawyer wasn't a surprise to Zelena. She couldn't care

who was terrified, obsessively tracking Polly's

people are saying the

is really

What if they

I told you I'd take

moment, Celeste's

her phone from her bag, and answered,

from the company. The police had contacted Marina Media, specifically asking to speak with

Celeste was an employee, it made sense that the police would reach out